Pizza time! To follow up on Portobello caps and flour-based crusts, here’s yet another idea for recreating the flavors of pizza in a Paleo-friendly package: finger-sized mini pizzas baked right into a “cup” of pepperoni (or salami, if you’d rather: both will work equally well).
Just make sure you check the package to make sure you're not getting anything with a bunch of junk in the ingredients.
You can load the cups up with whatever you’d normally add to a pizza: olives, banana peppers, ham and pineapple, and mozzarella cheese; If you do dairy…go crazy!
And since they’re individual, you can also make a few different kinds in the same tray. To make the meat cups work, you’ll also need a mini muffin pan.
The indentations in the muffin pan work like a mold for the salami or pepperoni: you put it in the cups while it’s cold and flexible, and then in the oven, it turns into a solid, crunchy shell.
These mini pizzas are perfect for kids, but adults love them too – maybe with a leafy salad to get a little more vegetable matter in there.
Alternately, they’d work really well as appetizers or just a snack tray for a party (especially since they barely take any time to cook!).
Mini Pepperoni Pizza Bites Recipe
MAKES: 24 PREP: 15 min COOK: 10 min
Ingredients
- 24 slices of good quality pepperoni or salami;
- ½ cup sweet bell pepper, thinly sliced;
- ⅓ cup tomatoes, finely chopped;
- ½ cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce (look for a brand with natural ingredients only);
- 2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped;
- 4 oz. almond cheese, sliced into cubes; (optional. Almond cheese is dairy-free and can be found in most health food stores)
Preparation
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Press one slice of salami or pepperoni into each muffin cup.
- Fill each pepperoni cup with sweet peppers and tomatoes.
- Add about 1 tsp. of sauce to each cup.
- Add the almond cheese on top of the sauce, and sprinkle some fresh basil on top of each mini pizza.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until the salami is crisp.
- Remove from the oven and serve hot.
📖 Recipe
Mini Pepperoni Pizza Bites Recipe
Ingredients
- 24 slices of good quality pepperoni or salami
- ½ cup sweet bell pepper thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup tomatoes finely chopped
- ½ cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce look for a brand with natural ingredients only
- 2 tbsp. fresh basil chopped
- 4 oz. almond cheese sliced into cubes (optional. Almond cheese is dairy-free and can be found in most health food stores)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Press one slice of salami or pepperoni into each muffin cup.24 slices of good quality pepperoni or salami
- Fill each pepperoni cup with sweet peppers and tomatoes.½ cup sweet bell pepper, ⅓ cup tomatoes
- Add about 1 tsp. of sauce to each cup.½ cup pizza sauce or marinara sauce
- Add the almond cheese on top of the sauce, and sprinkle some fresh basil on top of each mini pizza.4 oz. almond cheese, 2 tbsp. fresh basil
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until the salami is crisp.
- Remove from the oven and serve hot.
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